Possibly a miracle... [+weird update!]

[Nyctra]

And now there's a lively but paraplegic kit. :x I think Sophie's got a few too many strikes against her... The kit was fine and normal yesterday, but it's sure not right today. It's one of the biggest ones too.
I'd cull it, but dad's so against culling inedible babies lately, he'd probably disown me for it. :?

 

[myrkari]

I take it this is not the same one with the funny paw and the weird lump?

Maybe mom trod/lay on this one and broke its back. Sad to say, but if it really is paralysed from the middle down then it won't be able to defecate or urinate, so it'll be very uncomfortable before too long. It'll also be less able to compete for milk, and highly unlikely to ''get over it"

You might incur the wrath of dad for an afternoon until he feels a bit better about the situation but you'd be doing the right thing putting it down rather than letting it suffer until it finally passes away from bad guts or starvation.

 

[Nyctra]

Well I've seen a handful folks with rabbits recover from sprained backs, so there's probably a one in a million chance it could get better. It'll probably become dog snack once dad goes to bed, though.
It's a different kit with normal toes.

 

[myrkari]

Does it have feeling in the lower legs? Like, obviously don't pinch it for the sake of it, that would be mean - but does it react to being poked in the toe, etc? I know it's hard to gauge reactions in a tiny baby rabbit but if there's no feeling at all and e.g. it doesn't even notice you messing with its legs, that's a sign that it's definitely more than a sprain

If you can't be sure either way, maybe see how it is in the morning? There's nothing wrong with a little hope and optimism and you said the kit's still lively right now.

 

[akane]

Swelling in the spine can go down and give you a completely healthy animal that was paralyzed. I've seen it in gerbils. Occasionally something would happen. I had a rock area in each cage for climbing and someone dropped a baby on a sharper edge of rock. It dragged itself around for about 5 days and then rapidly improved over a few days. Went to a home perfectly fine.

I am concerned though that the number of issues in your litter are all related problems with development or genetics. I'd probably let the doe have one more litter just to see if she can produce a normal sized litter with no health problem. If not I'd cull her. I'd probably cull anything but a netherland and holland for having litters of only 3 kits anyway. Deformities and odd possible injuries are just extra incentive. It's possible one side of her uterus has a problem from that litter that went wrong and she will never have normal sized litters with all healthy kits.

 

[Nyctra]

The kit was fine EARLY early this morning, before dawn after he was fed. It's just so sudden... Dang. He has only very slight reaction near the hips and thigh.
As far as I can tell, the Champagne in my area normally have small litters - at least it seems that way, going by the breeders I've asked and websites I lurked around. Sophie was also full grown when I got her, and I don't think she was ever bred, so I'm sure that doesn't help with litter size...
Now there's summer heat I have to wait through until I can try her again...which IDK, I probably won't even bother with, once she's done working as a foster mom for another litter. :/ <br /><br /> -- Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:14 pm -- <br /><br /> I'm guilty...I let the paraplegic kit go on out of curiosity. As of last night, he's regained some feeling and control over his hips, thighs, and tail. If he tries to walk, though, he tries too hard and ends up with his butt in the air and doing a running handstand. It is the weirdest thing. :shock:

 

[Miss M]

No kidding!

It seems to be a rather rare accommodation. There's currently a rabbit in China that was purchased by a zoo for live food. When it began walking on its front paws, they saved it, and now it's a tourist attraction! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoples ... -paws.html

LIFE did a story on a pair of rabbits like this in 1946: http://time.com/3754783/here-are-two-ra ... ront-feet/

More videos of the China rabbit can be found on Youtube.

 

[Susie570]

:shock:
Well, the little thing looks well fed.